Building construction



0ct. 29, 1935. R. J. slPcHEN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 1'7, 19342 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 29, 1935. R. .1. srPcHEN 2,019,162

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed July 17, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 25k/@HW 2; u/My//MMM Patented Oct. 29, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

3 Claims.

' vide a construction embodying a skating rink and a movable floorsection which may be positioned over the rink and removed therefrom atwill, so that the same space may be used interchangeably for skating orother purposes, such, for ex- Y ample, as a dance floor.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of theabove indicated character in which the movable floor section embodiesheat insulating means whereby to protect the ice of the skating rinkagainst excessive loss of heat when the movable floor section ispositioned thereover, thereby permitting the skating rink to. be locatedout of doors in a position exposed to the heat of the sun during a largepart of the time or in other positions where it would be difcult orimpossible to maintain a sheet of ice in properly frozen condition if itwere exposed at all times.

A further object of the invention is to provide operating and controlmeans for controlling the movements of the movable floor section betweena position covering the skating rink and another position removedtherefrom.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will appearmore fully, and the invention will be better understood, by reference tothe detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the same appearinghereinafter, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forminga part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the principal parts of a construction inwhich the invention is embodied, certain of the parts being broken awayto illustrate other details of the construction more fully;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on theline 3 3 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on theline lI-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring rst to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings a sheet of ice forming askating rink is designated by the reference character II. The ice may befrozen and maintained in that condition by any suitable refrigeratingmeans, which means per se do not form a part of the present inventionand accordingly are illustrated diagrammatically simply in the form ofpipes or (C1. 2li-0.5)

tubes I2 extending through the ice layer for the purpose of conducting arefrigerating medium therethrough. The invention provides a constructionwhich permits the maintenance of the ice in properly frozen conditionwhen located out 5 of doors or otherwise exposed to high temperaturesand. accordingly is rrot illustrated as being enclosed in a building,although it will be understood, of course, that it may be so arranged ifdesired. The structure may, therefore, include Awalls or barriers of anydesired height around the skating rink, but since such elements do notconstitute an essential part of the construction, they are notillustrated in the drawings.

The location of the skating rink out of doors l5, or in other locationswhere the temperature may become relatively high, is facilitated by theprovision of a movable floor section I3, which is of substantially thesame dimensions as the skating rink and which may be positionedthereover or removed therefrom at will. This movable floor section issupported on wheels ifi and is movable by means of an electric motor I5and intermediate power transmission means described in greater detailhereinafter. In one position of the 2,5 movable door section I3 the samecovers the skating rink as illustrated in the drawings and serves toprotect the same from excessive loss of heat, particularly by reason ofthe construction of said oor section as an insulating element, as laterdescribed.

` Adjacent the skating rink is a fixed structural section I6 which mayconstitute a pavement, as of a sidewalk or roadway, or the floor of anadjacent room or building. Beneath this fixed structural section arecess II is provided in alignment with the movable floor section I3whereby the latter may be withdrawn from the position covering theskating rink into said recess to render the ice surface available foruse. The movable floor section I3 is illustrated in dotted lines in Fig.2 in the position which it occupies when thus removed from coveringrelation to the skating rink.

The motor I5 is located in a pit I8 beneath the 45 path of travel of themovable floor section I3, as shown.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate in greater detail the mechanism for actuatingthe movable floor section. As shown in Fig. 3, the wheels Ill supportingthe movable floor section I3 are arranged to run on rails I9, I9supported on suitable foundations 20, 20 which extend along the sides ofthe skating rink. The element I3 is composed of structural membersincluding a top surfacing ll layer 2l which may be conveniently made ofwood and finished to provide a dance oor or a flooring usable for otherpurposes when the movable floor section or platform is in extendedposition over the skating rink. The ooring 2l is supported by structuralframe members 22, 22 and intermediate transverse beams 23, 23 and alsopreferably by diagonal braces 24, 24 (Fig. 1). The transverse beams 23,23 and the end frame members 22, 22 which are parallel thereto arepreferably arched or cambered slightly for strength and also to providea slope on the ooring for drainage purposes, as when the same is locatedout of doors and exposed to rain.

Secured to the bottoms of the transverse beams 23, 23 and the end framemembers 22, 22 parallel thereto are a channel member 25 and a rack 26located inside the channel member, as best shown in Fig. 3. The rack 26meshes with a driving pinion 21, which is driven by the electric motorl5 through a suitable speed-reducing mechanism 28. The drivingmechanism, including the motor, speed reducer, and pinion, is mounted bya suitable bracket 28 on a wall ofthe pit I8 in such position that theplatform or movable floor section passes over the same throughout itspath of travel. Supporting rollers 35, 30 are also carried by thebracket 29 and are positioned to receive the downwardly extendingflanges of the channel member 25 to support the rack 26 in properrelation to the pinion 27.

The motor l5 is connected to a suitable power supply line, not shown,through switching means preferably comprising a magnetically `operatedreversing switch indicated diagrammatically at 3| in Fig. 1, and theswitching means may be provided with a relay control diagrammaticallyshown at 32. From the relay control mechanism connections indicated bythe line 33 extend to a control station 34 from which an operator maystart, stop and reverse the movement of the platform or movable floorsection I3. Other suitably arranged connections preferably extend fromthe control relay means 32 to limit switches 35 and 36, whichrespectively cooperate with limit stops 3l and 38 to limit the movementsof the platform or movable oor section at the respective ends of itspath of travel. It will be understood that the limit switches may belocated on the movable floor section to cooperate with fixed stops asshown, in which case connections will be made to the limit switchesthrough suitable sliding contacts or flexible cables, or that the stopsmay be mounted on the movable floor section and the cooperating limitswitches located on the stationary parts of the structure.

The control system may be of any standard type, such for example, as apush button control in which the control station 34 will consist of aforward button, a reverse button and a stop button. Pushing the forwardbutton will start the movable floor section moving in one direction andpushing the reverse button will start its movement in the otherdirection. Such movements can be interrupted at any point by pressingthe stop button, but otherwise will continue until the movable floorsection reaches its extreme position in the direction in which it ismoving. As it approaches either of these extreme positions thecorresponding limit switch 31 or 38 will be operated to interrupt thecontrol circuit which governs the movement in that direction. Thesecontrol operations may be effected through a standard control relaymeans 32 serving to open and close the usual forward and rewithin themovable element, so that the same will provide a highly efficientinsulating member for protecting the ice `of the skating rink against 15excessive loss of heat when the movable floor section is positionedthereover. 'I'he ice layer Il is preferably insulated by marginalsections of cork 4| or other suitable insulating material and aninserted layer of similar or other insulating 20 material 42 betweenlayers 43, 44 of concrete in the foundation of the rink, so that whenthe movable platform is positioned over the rink the latter will beinsulated on all sides against loss of heat and the refrigerating meansl2 will be able 25 to lower its temperature rapidly and maintain it atthe low degree necessary to keep the ice frozen under all conditions. Ithas been found in actual practice that the ice layer may be readilymaintained out of doors where it is subj jected to the suns rays whenexposed by removal of the movable floor section. After the skating rinkhas been used for a desired period of time the same may be scraped andsprayed with water, which will freeze quickly upon movg5 ing the movablefloor section over the same to provide the necessary degree ofinsulation, during which time said floor section may be used as a danceiloor or for other purposes. After the ice has been thus resurfaced themovable floor o section may be readily withdrawn in the manner alreadydescribed to make the skating rink available for further use.

Drainage from the surface of the movable floor y section may beaccommodated by gutters 45, 45 5 extending along the sides of saidmovable section and draining into elongated pits or runways 46, 46 whichpreferably extend along the sides of the structure outside thefoundations 2U, 20.

While only one specic embodiment of the in- 50 vention has been shownand described herein it will be readily understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of design and arrangel, ment of parts without departing from thespirit 55 and scope of the invention, as set forth in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed as new and is desired to secure by Letters Patent,therefore, is:

l. A floor structure comprising a sheet of ice 00 forming a skatingrink, a platform adapted to cover the same, means for supporting saidplatform for movement to and from covering relation to said rink, andmeans embodied in said i.. platform for insulating said sheet of iceagainst 65 excessive loss of heat when said platform is lin coveringrelation thereto, said platformY having its upper surface nished toprovide a dance floor or the like when positioned over said rink,whereby the skating rink and the dance floor or the 70 like may be usedinterchangeably.

2. A floor structure comprising a fixed structural section having arecess thereunder, a sheet of ice forming a skating rink, a platformadapted to cover the same, means for supporting said u platform formovement between a position covering said rink and a position withinsaid recess, and means embodied in said platform for insulating saidsheet of ice against excessive loss of heat when said platform is incovering relation thereto, said platform having its upper surfacefinished to` provide a dance floor or the like when positioned over saidrink, whereby the skating rink and the dance oor or the like may be mused interchangeably.

3. The combination with a skating rink, of a platform adapted to coverthe same, means for movably supporting said platform, means forming apit beneath the path of movement of the platform, a rack secured to thebottom of said platform, and actuating means located in said pit andcomprising a pinion intermeshing with said rack for moving said platformto and from a position covering the rink.

ROBERT J. SIPCHEN.

